Postal Savings Bank to launch consumer finance company

Postal Savings Bank of China, a major State-owned lender, is launching its consumer finance company to tap into China's promising consumer credit market, according to an executive of the bank.

The new company will be operational in November, Wang Ronghui, general manager of PSBC's credit finance department, told a forum held by Tsinghua University on Tuesday.

She said the company will harness PSBC's deep root in China's rural and suburb area, combine its offline presences and online platform to better serve consumers in these areas. The bank's consumer credit in rural area has grown 130 percent year-on-year this year.

Unlike other major State-owned lender, retail asset takes up 68 percent of PSBC's total asset, and that should be an advantage for it to tap the consumer credit market, she said. Non-mortgage lending, such as in education, tourism and consumer electronics, has grown strongly in recent years and account for one quarter of the total lending of the bank.

PSBC is among a flurry of commercial banks, internet companies, e-commerce companies in China to launch their consumer finance companies. This June, the State Council opened the market access nationwide.